Cigarette case and lighter



Jung 24, 1930. E. G. AHRENS 1,766,320

CIGARETTE CASE AND LIGHTER Filed May 14. 192g 1 l Y .Hmmm Q. l 2,4 if! INVENTOR.

fa WARD 6. HREA/s Patented June 24, 1930 PATENT OFFICE EDWARD G. AHRENS, OF SAN FRANCISCO,

CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 HERBERT A. GLADSTONE, -0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA CIGARETTE CASE AND LIGHTER Application tiled lIay 14, 1928. Serial No. 277,537.

My invention relates to improvements in cigarette cases and lighters, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a cigarette case and lighter that'are combined and which take up very little more room than that occupied by a standard cigarette case. This is due to the fact that the lighter is made long and shallow and is designed to occupy the top of the casing and to only project a slight distance down from the top. The lighter is removable for permitting the parts to be adjusted or for permitting a new refill to be inserted in the operating mechanism.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the lighter is provided with a separate cover from that of the cigarette-retaining portion, this cover being automatically unfastened and forced open by a trigger when the latter is moved in one direction, this same trigger when released causing an actuation of parts to produce a spark that will ignite the saturated wick. The function of a cover-.openin g trigger does away with the necessity of providing a spring hinge for the cover. The cover carries a cap which extinguishes the fiame when theJ cover is closed..

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described which is designed to be entirely manipulated with one hand, and which is extremely simple in construction.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated 1n the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which t Figure 1 is a. front vlew of the cigarette case and lighter showing a portion of the casing removed and the cover, which normally encloses the lighter, in open position;

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the lighter:

Figure 3 1s a section along the line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figures 4 to 10 inclusive are detail v'iews of different parts of the device. l

In carrying out my invention, I provide a cigarette casing indicated generally at 1 which has two compartments therein referred to by letters A and B. A partition 2 separates the compartments. A cover 3 is used for the compartment A and a cover 4 for the compartment B. Figure 1 shows spring clips 5 as holding cigarettes 6 in place.

The lighter is shown in its entirety in Figure 2, and is removable as a unit from the compartment B. The lighter comprises a container 7 that is as long'as the width of the casing l and deep enough to extend from the upper edge of the casing down to the partition 2. The container has a recessed wall portion 8 in its front Wall and a recessed wall portion 9 in its rear Wall for permitting the container to be withdrawn from the casing 1, Athe clasp 10 passin through the groove 8 during the removaii The hinge, not shown, securing the cover 4 to the casing 1, passes through the groove 9 during the removal of the container.

The lighter consists essentially of the con-f tainer 7 a filler plug 11, a flint carrier 12,' a wick 13, and a trigger 14, used not only to cause a spark to be generated by the fiint to ignite the wick, but to also open the cover. The particular shape of the trigger 14 is shown in Figures 9 and 10.

It will be seen that the trigger has a square opening 15 therein, a cam shaped projection 16. a handle 17, and a pusher 18. The trigger normally lies in the position shown vin Figure 2. Thecasing 1 may be grasped by the right hand. and the operator with his thumb can swing the handle 17 of the trigger around in the direction of the arrow a shown in Figure 2. 'lf his movement brings the projection 16 against a cam portion 19 carried by the inside of the cover (see Fig. l). These-two cani portions 16 and 19 co-act with each other for forcibly lifting the cover from the clasp 10. the cover being swung upon its hinges during this movement.

"The pusher end 18 of the trigger now comes into play, this portion bearing against titl once .swung away from the the back of the cover as the trigger continues in its movement for causing the cover to rock back past dead center where it will be held in open position by gravity. The lighter is now exposed. It should be noted .that dur ing this movement a cap 20 carried by the cover 4 is removed from the wick 13.

I will now describe the means for generating a spark for igniting the wick 13. An operating shaft 21 of the shape shown in Figure 4 is mounted in the container 7 so that the head 22 of the shaft is received in a depressed portion 23 and the square portion 24 of the shank and the threaded portion 25 project above the top of the container. Upon the square portion 24 I mount the trigger, and it will be seen that a manual swinging of the trigger will rotate the screw.

The square portion also receives a tension tube 26. This tube has a forked end 27, the arms of which have openings 28 and 29. The opening 28 receives the portion 24, while the I pening 29 is disposed just above -the portion and receives a nut 30 (see Figure 3) that is screwed down upon the threaded portion 25. In this way all of the parts are locked together.

It should be noted at this time that a serrated wheel 31 has a square opening for receiving the portion 24, this wheel being disposed between the forked end 27. This wheel is slowly turned when the trigger 14 is manually moved. A spring 32 (see Figures 3 and 7) is placed under tension during this movement. The end 33 of the spring is received in a groove 34 in the shaft 21, while the end 35 is secured to the wall 36 of the spring housing, ythis housing extending from top to bottom of the container. When the trigger is released, the spring quickly returns it to normal position, and therefore causes a quick rotationof the shaft 21. The shaft moves the serrated wheel 31 past a flint 37 which is held thereagainst y a spring 38. The rapid movement between tlie Wheel and the flint causes a spark to be generated which is directed against the wick 13 and starts the wick to burning. The flint 37 can be fed toward the wheel 31 as the former is used, this movement being accomplished by an adjusting screw 39. The tension tube 26 is normally held in the position shown in Figure 2 by means of a tube support 40 that has its upward portion received in a recess in the tube. When it is desired to place a new flint within the tube, the latter is swung away from its support 40 and about the shaft 21 as a pivot. The container 7 is removed from the casing 1 during this operation. The tubc 26 when container. perlnits the screw 3f) to bc removed, a new flint inserted, and the screw again placed in position.

Extra flints arc carried in a flint container 41 which isoctagon in shape as. shown in F ignre 8. Figure 3 shows how this container is removably secured to a shallow plug 42. This plug is not only removed for permitting access to the container 41, but also when it is desired to add a quantity of inflammable liquid to the container.

F rom'the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The casing 1 normally has both covers 3 and 4 closed. The smoker obtains a ciga- `rette by opening the cover 3, and can light the cigarette by first moving the trigger 14 with his thumb, this movement causing the cover 4 to swing open in the manner already set forth. The trigger may now be released by the thumb, and will be quickly returned to its normal position by the spring 32, this movement causing a spark to be generated by the wheel 31 and the flint 37, this spark igniting the wick 13. The wick leads down into the container 7 and is kept saturated by the liquid contained therein. The wick will continue to burn so long as the smoker desires, and the cigarette can be lighted by means of it. The cover 4 is now closed and the cap 20 extinguishes the flame.

The tension tube 26 is swingable in order to be readily refilled with flint, and the container is removable from the casing 1 for this purpose. The device is extremely simple in construction, andthe container is so arranged at one end of the casing as to take up very little additional room. In fact, the casing resembles an ordinary cigarette casing when both covers 3 and 4 are closed. The cigarette casing is pocket size.

Although Ihave shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it. is to be understood that the same is susceptible of various changes,'and I reserve the right to employ such changes as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a cigarette lighter, a cover for enclosing all of the Working parts and being hingedly secured to the lighter, a trigger, cooperating cams carried by said trigger and cover for causing an opening of the cover when the trigger is moved in one direction, and means carried by said trigger for swinging the cover into full open position on the further swinging of the trigger in the same direction.

2. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing for the lighter` a cover for the casing enclosing all of the working parts, a trigger for opening the cover. cooperating cams carried b v the trigger and cover for initially forcing the cover into open position. .said trigger having a portion cngagcablc with the cover for moving thc cover into full open position. and spring means for returning the trigger to normal position.

3. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing, a Wheel rotatably carried by said casing and having a serrated periphery, a flint yieldingly held in engagement with said wheel, a trigger manually swingable in one direction for rotating the wheel, spring means for quickly swinging the trigger back to normal position and for quickly rotating the wheel, a cover for the casing enclosing all of the working parts, and cooperating means carried by the cover and trigger for opening the cover.

4. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing, a Wheel rotatably carried by said casing and having a serrated periphery, a Hint yieldingly held in engagement with said wheel, a trigger manually swingable in one direction for rotating the wheel, spring means for quickly swinging the trigger back to normal position and for quickly rotating the wheel, a,v cover for the casing enclosing all of the working parts, and cooperating means carried by the cover and trigger for openin the cover, said trigger having an extension or swinging the cover into full open position.

5. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing for holding a fluid, a spring housing mounted in said casing, a spring disposed within said housing, a shaft secured to one end of the spring and being rotated in one direction by said spring, a trigger for rotating the shaft in the opposite direction, a serrated wheel carried by the shaft and being rotated thereby and a cover for enclosing all of the working parts, said cover being swung into open position by the initial movement of said trigger.

EDWARD G. AHRENS.v 

